Turkey: businessmen, police detained in new raids

May. 22, 2015

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Officials say police have detained dozens of businessmen and police officers in a new wave of raids against people suspected of links to a movement led U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, which the government accuses of attempting to topple the government.

The governor's office for central Konya province says police have warrants to arrest 69 people suspected of "membership in the pro-Fethullah terror organization" and other crimes. It says raids were launched Friday in Konya and 19 other provinces.

The detained officers include the former police chief for Konya and other senior officers. The governor's office did not identify the wanted businessmen.

The government accuses Gulen's followers of conspiring against it and of orchestrating a corruption scandal in 2013 that implicated government ministers, a charge Gulen rejects.